Can we legalize lane filtering yet?

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would love to legally be able to lane filter. Here when the hwy is a parking lot bikes will filter and / or use the shoulder. As someone put it
when its 30C out and you are wearing half a cow, i will filter.

atleast bc got some things right. Increase of highway maximum limits. Some parts can go 120kph legally. Other things is bikes in HOV lanes legal.
(see sign in link https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.1585...m4!1e1!3m2!1s5qChbbCFHPw1UtQvh9ggnA!2e0?hl=en )

also, no line ups for BC Ferries. Bikes go right to the front of the line and are loaded first / offloaded first.
 
It was Summer 2014 I saw an OPP Motorcycle filter through Hwy 401 traffic near Yonge. He was manoeuvring in between lanes, using the shoulder and doing all sorts of motorcycle acrobatics to get through standstill traffic. He did have the christmas lights going though.

Anyone recall a video of a motorcycle driving filtering through a freeway in completely stopped traffic. I believe the entire stretch of highway was shut down, there were even people waiting outside their vehicles for miles and miles. I can't for the life of me find this video. The setting seems to be southern USA, i recall a desert like background.
 
Roadghost said:
LMAO! Start the car and close the garage door...get back to us.
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You would be long dead from carbon monoxide poisoning, before CO2 could have an appreciable effect on you. Carbon monoxide reacts with the hemoglobin on your blood, the part of it responsible for carrying oxygen, and makes it incapable of oxygen transport. You lips turn purple. You get dizzy, start suffering from head pains, eventually pass out from oxygen deprivation and then die.

In contrast to this, you simply can't metabolize carbon dioxide. High CO2 levels result in direct oxygen deprivation, without having an effect on the ability of your blood to carry oxygen.

The atmosphere is about 0.03% carbon dioxide. Carbon monoxide is a trace gas. Increase the concentration of carbon dioxide to 1%, with the normal percentage of oxygen (about 21%), and you're fine. Increase the percentage of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere to 1%, while maintaining the oxygen level, and you'll take maybe a half dozen breaths, fall unconcious, and be dead in minutes.
 
iFly55 said:
It was Summer 2014 I saw an OPP Motorcycle filter through Hwy 401 traffic near Yonge. He was manoeuvring in between lanes, using the shoulder and doing all sorts of motorcycle acrobatics to get through standstill traffic. He did have the christmas lights going though.

Anyone recall a video of a motorcycle driving filtering through a freeway in completely stopped traffic. I believe the entire stretch of highway was shut down, there were even people waiting outside their vehicles for miles and miles. I can't for the life of me find this video. The setting seems to be southern USA, i recall a desert like background.
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[video=youtube;c2WgLYenN2A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2WgLYenN2A[/video]
 
cool California lane split vid. Saw several times of car doors starting to open as the bike went by. but the WTF!! moment was at
4:58.. a motorcycle on a trailer being towed .. the bike laying on its side on the trailer? wtf
 
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Everyone would have to learn how to actually ride before thinking about splitting, so it won't happen in this lifetime.
 
Rob MacLennan said:
You would be long dead from carbon monoxide poisoning, before CO2 could have an appreciable effect on you. Carbon monoxide reacts with the hemoglobin on your blood, the part of it responsible for carrying oxygen, and makes it incapable of oxygen transport. You lips turn purple. You get dizzy, start suffering from head pains, eventually pass out from oxygen deprivation and then die.

In contrast to this, you simply can't metabolize carbon dioxide. High CO2 levels result in direct oxygen deprivation, without having an effect on the ability of your blood to carry oxygen.

The atmosphere is about 0.03% carbon dioxide. Carbon monoxide is a trace gas. Increase the concentration of carbon dioxide to 1%, with the normal percentage of oxygen (about 21%), and you're fine. Increase the percentage of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere to 1%, while maintaining the oxygen level, and you'll take maybe a half dozen breaths, fall unconcious, and be dead in minutes.
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Yeah, no kidding. But C02 is still the major greenhouse gas and cars produce a lot more of it than motorcycles. That was the point of one (1) of my arguments. You've yet to post a valid criticism of any of them.
 
hedo2002 said:
Of course, there are two major differences between your experience and what we face here in Ontario.

Firstly, as you elduded to it has been legal in California for a very long time and there drivers there are used to it occuring. You say it has been safer in the last two years? But then you say you know of not one person getting injured while doing it? Those two statements are diametrically opposed. If it never resulted in a collision then how could have it gotten safer? Also to what do you atrribute to it being safer in the past two years? Just curious if someone has done a study or is the evidence imperical? or anecitdotal?

Now the second MAJOR difference is your riding season compared to ours. You have the ability to ride 12 months of the year. Most "fair weather riders" here are limited to 3 - 5 months at best. We typically, see a spike in collisions at the beginning of each season. This can be attributed to two main contributing factors. First cagers are not used to having to look for bikes on the road, we have vanished from their minds during the winter. Secondly, riders who have rusty riding skills or are "over exhuberant"
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just because something thing is safe, doesn't mean it can't be safer. A car with a seatbelt is safe. A car with a seatbelt and an airbag is safer. These two things are not "diametrically opposed".

two years ago the CHP came out with an ad campaign to teach drivers that lane splitting is legal and allowed in CA. And to give motorcyclist extra room when they do so. They backed this up with officers actually warning drivers during traffic stops. This worked almost too well. I now have drivers practically scraping the inside left divider giving me room to pass on the right. Sometimes there's enough room to drive a truck through lane splitting. Hence my comment that it is now safer. I've been lane splitting for 25 years now and I've never seen this level of courtesy for motorcyclist.

As to riding season, I'm sure you're correct. There are rusty drivers and riders. However, this doesn't disprove my comment that lane splitting is an option and NOT a requirement. Those who are not competent at it should no more attempt it as a casual rider should attempt a motogp race. It is just another tool experienced riders can utilize to ride safely as their skills, traffic and road conditions dictate. We should not be opposed to having more riding options.
 
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caboose56 said:
You should stop posting... this isn't going well for you.
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As opposed to the massive cred you built up with links to a few shoddy newspaper articles? What is your argument against lane splitting anyway? You don't seem to have anything interesting to add here.
 
Roadghost said:
Yeah, no kidding. But C02 is still the major greenhouse gas and cars produce a lot more of it than motorcycles. That was the point of one (1) of my arguments. You've yet to post a valid criticism of any of them.
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Roadghost said:
As opposed to the massive cred you built up with links to a few shoddy newspaper articles? What is your argument against lane splitting anyway? You don't seem to have anything interesting to add here.
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ACTUAL carpooling would result in a significant decrease in CO2, CO and hydrocarbon emissions per person per day.

The only person you're winning over with your arguments is you.

This is what you sound like:

- Hey man, you should switch to an electric oven. Your gas bill will go way down.
- Sure, but won't my hydro bill go up?
- Well ya... but your gas bill will go down!!!
- How much will my hydro bill go up?
- I don't know, but your gas bill will go down!!
- Whats the actual savings? Is there any savings at all?
- Your gas bill will go down!
- I don't get it....
- YOUR GAS BILL WILL GO DOWN!
 
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Roadghost said:
Yeah, no kidding. But C02 is still the major greenhouse gas and cars produce a lot more of it than motorcycles. That was the point of one (1) of my arguments. You've yet to post a valid criticism of any of them.
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It's not valid to say that, contrary to your statement, CO2 isn't "deadly"? It's not valid to point out that CO, which is one of the byproducts produced in greater proportion by motorcycles than cars, is in fact deadly? And, of course, the ever popular division of the fuel use and its attendant pollution by four, yielding a fuel use one third of a motorcycle per person? Think that there are others that I haven't addressed? Point 'em out. The single biggest one I addressed by pointing out what is required in order for a fuel burning vehicle to use the HOV lanes.

In all of your flailing, you're missing one single, simple point; that there is no persuasive reason to ALLOW motorcycles in HOV lanes. Believe me when I said that I tried the arguments that you are, and had everything knocked down with very reasonable responses. They don't need to say why motorcycles should not be allowed access. The opposite is true. There are a couple of more persuasive arguments but you haven't found those yet and, alone, they aren't enough.
 
I simply don't expect this to happen anytime soon in Ontario. This is the major reason why. Even the two riders who have rode a fair amount of lane splitting experience in California, have admitted it should "only be done by those who are competent".

So how do we determine if someone is competent? Other than if they crash, but then it is too late for them and soicety in general to be an effective measuring stick.

We think insurance rates are high now, imagine how the insurers will then react? It will take ONE accident with a rider crashing for them to declare the sky is falling and that due to lane splitting they must add a 25% surcharge to cruisers and a 50%+ surcharge to sportbikes, (sport bikes are smaller and therefore more likely to lane split than a cruiser)..lol

The two experienced riders also stressed it must be done safely. Again, who and what determines "safely"? Is +10 km, +20,+30, +50 km speed diferential safe?

If this came to a vote in the legislature, those opposed would have plenty of ammunition in the form of Youtube videos showing hooligans lane splitting at +100 km speed differential and of course the mulitude of bikes crashing while splitting.

We as a community are at times our own worst enemies. We can't even convince riders to not:

Ride at more then twice the limit;
Run from the police for relatively minor infractions, (of course they normally cite fear of s 172);
Post videos of their "group" rides pulling wheelies in moderate traffic along the 401;
etc etc etc.

All of the above actions affect EVERY rider in a negative way, in that we:

face increased insurance rates;
have to deal with the general public perception that if your on two wheels you MUST, be a hooligan;
increased scrutiny for police enforcement.

Lastly, the main reason I don't se eit happening is that it would be seen as a benefit for a very small percentage of all road users. Here in Canada we have the mentality that everyone "should be the same", look at someone who is rich and successful, generally most people are unhappy if they "flash" their success, and we think they should do more to help those who have less, rather then boosting those who have less so they too can have more. No one seems to want someone else to have an "advantage" they don't have.

How often do we heard people complaining about the HOV lanes and that they should be open to everyone? Now imagine when people "think" that again an even smaller segment is getting a benefit.
 
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But hedo, we're supposed to accept that people who exhibit such behaviour "don't care what others think" and will "do what they want." (When reading this please do so in the mental voice of a 16 year old girl, on the Maury Show, who is drinking, doing drugs, and screwing anything with a pulse."

I would be happy if we were to get something like the Oregon law, so that I'm not being slow cooked on The Gardiner in August, but even that is unlikely.
 
I would love to have some witty response to justify motorcyclist lane splitting or filtering. When I'm riding and traffic is stopped, I'm sitting on my bike idling and thinking I could just cut through and make my way.

Sure, I can point to other places where this happens on a regular basis without issue.

The reality is, there is no compelling justification to make it happen. The motorcycling community is minor faction of the population to warrant any meaningful attention to accommodate a change from the current status quo.

Would the road anarchy ensue if it was allowed? Doubt it.

Would there be any significant improvement to traffic congestion or mobility? Doubt it.

So, things will remain the same.
 
Liamjs said:
just because something thing is safe, doesn't mean it can't be safer. A car with a seatbelt is safe. A car with a seatbelt and an airbag is safer. These two things are not "diametrically opposed".

two years ago the CHP came out with an ad campaign to teach drivers that lane splitting is legal and allowed in CA. And to give motorcyclist extra room when they do so. They backed this up with officers actually warning drivers during traffic stops. This worked almost too well. I now have drivers practically scraping the inside left divider giving me room to pass on the right. Sometimes there's enough room to drive a truck through lane splitting. Hence my comment that it is now safer. I've been lane splitting for 25 years now and I've never seen this level of courtesy for motorcyclist.

As to riding season, I'm sure you're correct. There are rusty drivers and riders. However, this doesn't disprove my comment that lane splitting is an option and NOT a requirement. Those who are not competent at it should no more attempt it as a casual rider should attempt a motogp race. It is just another tool experienced riders can utilize to ride safely as their skills, traffic and road conditions dictate. We should not be opposed to having more riding options.
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How often do your lane markings vanish in Los Angeles due to weather conditions? At the end of the winter in many places in Canada we've lost lane markings due to salt on the road or abrasion due to grit spread during icy/snowy weather. Would you agree that to lane split...it would be good to know exactly where those lanes are?

That's just one small issue, the other is that we have dozy drivers that just spent 4-5 months on the road with hardly a pedal bike, let alone a motorcycle to look out for. These drivers already have such a poor level of training that to suddenly enforce them to begin using their highly neglected mirrors and signals to look for and warn other motorists of their impending actions is pretty much impossible without mandatory administration of ADHD medicine.

So, then we get to the final issue. Given all the above we could say let motorcyclists decide what they should do but the thing here is that it doesn't just affect motorcyclists. A car driver who makes a sudden lane change, sees a motorcyclist at the last second lane splitting then moves back into his recently departed lane could also cause an accident affecting the rest of the road users.

With our set of reasonably unique conditions I really can't see any legal argument for lane splitting or filtering happening any time soon unless we have an overhaul on how our highways are maintained and how our drivers and riders receive their licenses.
 
I just remembered something else....I have no idea who decides how major highways get resurfaced here but on my local stretch of the 401 the most dangerous areas of the highway are those areas between lanes. There are practically small ditches appearing in these areas...the same areas you want to allow bikes to lanesplit in. If I lanesplit on those sections I'd be renewing the rims on my bike every few weeks as a maintenance and safety issue and that's not even thinking about possibly being turfed off the bike.
 
jc100 said:
I just remembered something else....I have no idea who decides how major highways get resurfaced here but on my local stretch of the 401 the most dangerous areas of the highway are those areas between lanes. There are practically small ditches appearing in these areas...the same areas you want to allow bikes to lanesplit in. If I lanesplit on those sections I'd be renewing the rims on my bike every few weeks as a maintenance and safety issue and that's not even thinking about possibly being turfed off the bike.
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The equipment that lays the asphalt does it one lane width at a time, so the joins are at the lane demarkations. As a result these areas allow water/ice penetration and degrade first, leaving lines of open pavement. For years I had to watch myself carefully on 401 east lanes, approaching 427, because making a lane change at the wrong point could be catastrophic.
 
jc100 said:
With our set of reasonably unique conditions I really can't see any legal argument for lane splitting or filtering happening any time soon unless we have an overhaul on how our highways are maintained and how our drivers and riders receive their licenses.
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You're right. No one in Canada should have the OPTION of lane splitting. :(
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